Kell Brook breathed fresh life into his career as he began life in the light-middleweight division with a stunning second-round knockout of Sergey Rabchenko.

Brook's career had stalled after a fruitless jump to middleweight to challenge Gennady Golovkin in September 2016, while a drop back down to welterweight last May saw him lose his world title to Errol Spence Jr.

But he drew an emphatic line under those twin defeats as he needed less than five minutes to end the challenge of Rabchenko and get back in the win column in front of his home fans at the Sheffield Arena.

The bones around both of Brook's eyes have been reinforced by titanium plates after he first fractured his right eye socket in his defeat to Golovkin and then sustained a near identical injury to the other side of his face against Spence Jr.

(Image: Action Images via Reuters)

Brook (now 37-2, 26KO wins) had spoken of how the defeat to Spence Jr, in particular, had left him at a low ebb but he says he refused to take an easy route on his comeback, choosing to face a fighter with whom he had had some tough sparring sessions in the past and who had only previously lost twice in 31 professional fights.

One of Rabchenko's victims was Brook's former gym stablemate Ryan Rhodes while the Belarusian had won all seven of his previous contests in Britain.

But he was never able to get going against Brook, who will now have his sights set on challenging for world honours once more, or arranging a bout against long-term rival Amir Khan.

The referee waves the fight off in the second round (Image: PA)

The 31-year-old Brook, backed by a buoyant crowd in his home city, wasted little time settling into his stride behind a crisp jab while his superior footwork allowed him to avoid most of Rabchenko's lunges.

The Briton stepped up his attack in the second round as he followed up a bruising left uppercut with a straight right that put Rabchenko on the floor.

The 32-year-old was unsteady as he rose to his feet and was counted out by referee Steve Gray one minute and 27 seconds into the round, to the delight of the home crowd.

22:45

That's all, folks

But don’t forget you can follow all the action from New York later as Deontay Wilder takes on Luis Ortiz... right here.

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22:39

Taylor looked good again

(Image: Action Images via Reuters)

22:30

World title shot soon?

Taylor continues to impress and that’s 12 from 12 for the Scotsman.

22:26

Taylor wins!

Campos is down in the third round - and it’s waved off!

22:21

Over to Glasgow...

Taylor pops out is jab from the opening seconds. Campos sits on the ropes and beckons the Scotsman on. He does drop to the canvas in the dying seconds but it is ruled a push. Opening round to Taylor.

22:17

Round 2

Brook cracks an uppercut with his right hand and follows up with a flurry to floor Rabchenko, IT’S OVER!

22:15

Round 1

Brook still looks to have retained his speed as he pops out his jab and evades the shots coming back from Rabchenko.

22:08

The two men are in the ring...

Now for the announcements, and then we’ll be underway.

22:02

Up in Scotland...

Josh Taylor is in action in Glasgow against Winston Campos who stepped in at short notice after Humberto Soto pulled out ill.

21:43

And McDonnell wins...!

The judges were all in agreement: 116-112, 116-112 and 117-113 were the scores.

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21:42

It's all over!

McDonnell should get the nod after a hard-fought 12 rounds.

21:30

Into the final three rounds

McDonnell is heading for victory here

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21:16

Halfway through

That’s the end of the sixth round and McDonnell is beginning to take charge of this one.

21:13

McDonnell edging this one

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21:01

Nothing between them

As expected, this has been pretty close through the opening two rounds. Kell Brook vs Sergey Rabchenko will be up next, probably around 10pm.

20:48

McDonnell is having his third fight since he lost his world title challenge against Rey Vargas just over a year ago. Yafai on the other hand is taking a considerable step up having won each of his 14 pro fights to date.

20:41

Next up

Gamal Yafai takes on Gavin McDonnell in what could be an excellent chief support to the main event.

20:39

Allen couldn't believe the decision

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20:33

Will we see these two in the ring for a third time?

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20:28

The fight is called a draw after that drama and Lenroy Thomas is up for doing it again.

“I’m disappointed after all the work I’ve put in,” he says.

“I think we were both going in for hooks to the body.”

“I think I was winning the fight.

“If the price is right I’ll come over again.”

20:24

It's over!

Dave Allen is cut over his left eye and the referee stops the fight on the advice of the doctor!

20:21

Interesting choice of footwear..

Having been introduced as the Doncaster De La Hoya, Dave Allen is wearing a pair of trainers for is rematch with Lenroy Thomas.

No, I don’t know why either...

20:10

Galahad wants world title shot

Galahad claims he is ready for the big fights after that stoppage win: “I’ve done him in three rounds, what does that say?,” he said on Sky Sports.

“I’m more than ready for a world title.

“When I adjust, people are going to get hurt.

“I want the winner out of Warrington and Selby. I think I can beat both of them.”

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19:54

Galahad marches on

Kid Galahad has made short work of Irving Berry with the featherweight stopping his Panamanian opponent in the third round. Berry is in a bad way as paramedics give him oxygen, but he’s thankfully soon back on his feet.

(Image: PA)

19:37

Results so far

Earlier, Rocky Fielding outpointed Karel Horejsek and promoter Eddie Hearn revealed he is in talks with world champion Gilberto Ramirez. The Mexican has won all 37 of his fights while stopping 25 of his opponents. There have also been stoppage wins for Leigh Wood and Atif Shafiq so far in Sheffield.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Brook: I regret Errol Spence fight

Kell Brook has revealed his regret at remaining at welterweight for too long but insists it will not stop him returning to his peak at 154lbs.

The 31-year-old on Saturday at the Sheffield Arena begins his permanent move to the light-middleweight division, where he will fight Belarus’ Sergey Rabchenko, best known for ending the career of Brook’s one-time stablemate Ryan Rhodes.

He does so after two consecutive stoppage defeats, the first at middleweight by Gennady Golovkin when he fractured his right eye socket, and the second back at welterweight, where he surrendered his IBF title to America’s Errol Spence and fractured his left.

The return to 147lbs from 160lbs contributed to his struggles against Spence after a career in which he has consistently struggled to make the former limit and long appeared a natural light-middle, but his desire to retain his world title drove him to do so.

“I regret the Spence fight,” said Brook. “It was in Sheffield, we’d sold a load of tickets and we were in a football stadium (Bramall Lane).

(Image: Action Images via Reuters)

“That really hurt me badly: it took me a long time to get over that. I’ve got a lot left in me: people are right to question what I’ve got left and how I am going to be after the injuries and the defeats, but I believe I’m going to be better with the bigger weight which will bring the best out of me.

“The eye has healed very well. It’s held up in sparring and I don’t think about the eye injuries at all. I wouldn’t be boxing if I wasn’t given the all clear by the doctors; I wouldn’t put my family or myself through that.”

Of the 32-year-old Rabchenko, who was once trained by Ricky Hatton and in addition to Rhodes has victories over Britain’s Bradley Pryce, Kevin McCauley and Martin Concepcion, he added: “I didn’t want an easy fight back. If I had done, I could’ve fallen out of love with it, cut corners and not reached the heights in training that I need to reach.

“Rabchenko is a dangerous guy; he’s no mug and he can really bang. I’ve sparred with him and if you were to go on the sparring, it’s going to be a hell of a fight.”